Far From Normal
by FarFromFlawless
Summary: It's been a year since the team performed inception. Ariadne doesn't see her team members until she wakes up one day with a pinprick in her wrist and a disconcerting dream...The team meets up and are forced to perform extraction on a close friend.
1. What Once Was

Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic and I'm excited and nervous to write this! I've been a member for a while but haven't found the time to write a story until now. Hopefully I'll be able to update frequently; I'll try my best:). Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own inception. :(

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><p><strong>Ariadne's P.O.V<strong>

Is it worth living if life has become dull, dismal, colorless, and blah? This is the question that has sneaked its way through her head more times than she could care to count. It's been almost a year since she had seen her team members. She missed them all. Deeply. Cobb's handsome face pinched with worry, Yusuf's carefree attitude, Saito's businesslike outlook, Arthur's highly attractive self and gentlemanly actions; she even missed Eames' jokes! She couldn't seem to get them out of her head. She couldn't seem to get _it_ out of her head. The possibility to build anything and everything – things that couldn't exist in the real world. But once inception was completed and Arthur slyly handed her a piece of paper with the hotel she was staying at for a few days (already paid for) and a ticket for a flight back to Paris she was thrust back into the tedious real world. She should just forget about them, forget about what once was. Her friends knew something was up, they took her to bars, set her up on dates, and nothing worked. How could it? All she told her friends that she was gone for a few months working on a job and that she wasn't needed again.

Life went on boring and unrelenting.

Until yesterday.

She woke up today with a vague sense that something was amiss; sounds not reaching her ears fast enough, colors blurring together, objects moving either too fast or too slow. She had dreamt the weirdest dream.

_She was walking to her favorite coffee shop like she always did before traveling to the college. Neck tensing she realized she was being followed. Barely turning her head she spotted a man in a suit walking about a block behind her. Then the street in front of her blew up._

Out of habit she tipped her totem, and noticed it. There it was. A miniscule pinprick on her right wrist. She tipped over her totem again. And another time. And another. Realizing that _someone_ had been in _her_ head, she freaked out. Almost sprinting out of bed, throwing on random clothes, and rushing towards the door were the actions that her body performed while her brain remained in its shocked state. She didn't stop until she became aware that she didn't have anyone to call. Cobb didn't give her his or any of the others' numbers. Pacing back and forth she came up with the decision to speak to Miles. She was reaching for the door to her apartment when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Ariadne, go to the college now! You're not safe!"

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><p><strong>That took a lot longer that I expected ~ my foot fell asleep and now I have the wonderful feeling of needles being shoved into my foot. :p<strong>

** Until next chapter my darlings!**

**Reviews are much appreciated!**


	2. Not Just a Dream

Happy New Year everyone! I just want inform you all that school starts up again tomorrow :( and I will be slower at updating. School sucks :p. Anyway, here's chapter 2! I spent a lot of time on this one and I hope you all enjoy it!

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><p><strong>Ariadne's P.O.V.<strong>

"Arthur?"

"Ariadne listen to me! Please get to the college as quick as you can." The emotionless point man commanded in a tone that Ariadne would describe as concern.

She didn't answer right away. Awkward silence.

"Are you still there?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, yes I'm here I'm heading to the college now," she replied.

"Please hurry," Arthur tartly responded.

Ariadne set down the phone shakily; events were happening so swiftly. Arthur thought that her silence meant she was frightened but it was for a very different reason. The very fact that Arthur knew her phone number, Arthur called her, and Arthur talked to her was enough to make shivers go up and down her petite frame. Then she remembered how bored and lonely she was for a year and began feeling prickles of annoyance accompany the shivers down her spine. She hadn't seen _him_ for a year and he makes one phone call and expects to jump back into her life. Well, she wouldn't make things easy for him. She didn't want him to know that his gelled back hair, dark chocolate colored eyes, and expensive suits floated through her mind enough times to unsettle herself. Sure, she had a few boyfriends before but none of them even compared to Arthur – His suave manner and gentlemanly actions were enough to make any woman swoon. And she was sure he attracted beautiful model-like women that she couldn't even compare to. Nope, she could not let her emotions show.

Realizing why Arthur called in the first place she hurriedly grabbed a brown over-the-shoulder purse and threw in a few essentials – her phone, apartment key, some money, and as an afterthought grabbed a can of pepper spray that her dad got her when she moved to Paris. It was more of a joke, really, but if it would come in handy today then she wouldn't complain about her dad's overprotective nature anymore. She glanced at the clock, which read 9:43 am, one last time before heading out the door. The walk to the college never took long, 15 minutes at most.

**Arthur's P.O.V.**

"Bloody hell what is taking our dear architect so long?" Eames wondered aloud.

He wanted to tell Eames to shut up, she was probably almost to the college where him and Eames were waiting in a car out front, but he was wondering the same thing. He glanced at the clock. The soft white glow of the car's clock blinked 10:01.

**Ariadne's P.O.V.**

~10 minutes earlier~

She was approaching her favorite coffee shop. Her neck tingled; she was having a strong sense of déjà vu. She half turned her head to the right. Her breath hitching, she noticed a man in a black suit and sunglasses walking about a block behind her. Fingering her totem, she wondered if she was losing it. She picked up her pace and glanced behind again. Same guy, but he was walking quicker now. Recalling the last part of her dream, she abruptly stopped, causing an elderly couple walking behind her to sidestep into the road to avoid crashing into her while muttering angrily. She couldn't hear everything they whispered but she caught the words _young people_ _these days _and _no courtesy_.

What to do? Should she keep walking and risk being blown up by the street? Was the street even going to explode? Why was she worrying so much over one dream? The guy in the suit might not even be following her! Mustering her courage, she placed one foot on the road as the walk signal flashed on the other side. She counted her steps as she walked across…1…2…CRASH!

She was vaguely aware of a wet substance trickling down her face and the screams. Then, blackness.

**Arthur's P.O.V.**

He hated clocks. He always had. Tick, tock, tick, tock events occur and time goes on. Tick, tock, tick, tock people die and the earth keeps rotating. Tick, tock, tick, tock every flash of the car's clock reminds him that he was too slow, he acted too late, he couldn't save her.

"It is now 10:05 and the munchkin still isn't here. Should we look for her?" Eames broke his trance.

"Shit." He muttered. 10:05? Where had the time gone? Tick, tock, tick, tock the car's clock mocked him. Too slow, too late, too slow, too late. He had to push it out of his mind. He had to forgive himself. _You better hurry up or else Ariadne could end up like her._ His thoughts whispered evilly. "Shut up." He muttered aloud.

"I'm sorry love, what was that?" Eames asked tauntingly. "Not speaking to ourselves again are we?"

"I'm fine." He tersely replied. "Let's go find Ariadne."

He was driving and Eames was searching for their Architect. They knew where she lived because he had her address memorized. He told himself he knew every detail there was to find on the internet about her because it was standard background check on all team members; he wouldn't admit that she deeply intrigued him. Those soft, caramel colored doe eyes, the glossy brown hair, and the way she smiled. Her smile made him smile. Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice it until the last minute. Both the point man and forger dropped their jaws like those silly characters in cartoons. Except there was nothing remotely funny about the scene in front of them.

"What the-."

"Holy sh-."

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><p><strong>Reviews are much appreciated!<strong>


	3. An Old Friend

Hello dear readers! Long time no see. Well, not that long but I found this chapter hard to write. I don't know if it's just because I'm so emotionally and physically drained right now (I've had an intense week) but this chapter took me f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Anyways, here it is now so I hope it isn't too dreadful! Also, much thanks to everyone who reviewed; you all make my day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception.

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><p><strong>Arthur's P.O.V.<strong>

He didn't know what was more terrifying. The sight of the torn up street clogged with unconscious people and police, or the sight of a familiar petite brunette lying motionless on the ravaged ground next to a coffee shop. He decided on the latter.

"Ariadne!" Jumping out of the car, he ran to her limp form. He could hear Eames sprinting behind him. He checked for a pulse. As he felt the gentle thud of her pulse he let out a silent prayer of thanks. Scooping her up in his arms he started walking back towards the car.

"Hey do you know what in the blazes happened here?" Arthur could hear Eames questioning a policeman on the side of the mangled road. He didn't hear the rest as he walked out of earshot.

He placed her gently in the backseat. Now that the initial shock of finding his favorite architect lying immobile on the ground was wearing off he took a good look at her. There was a cut on her forehead that was gushing blood, but appeared to be slowing down. He ripped off part of his sleeve to staunch the bleeding anyway. She had minor cuts and bruises on her legs and arms, but nothing as serious as her head. As he was positioning her to a more comfortable position a piece of paper slid out of her pocket. He picked it up.

_5911 Waterway Ave. NE. Bring the forger with you. Be there by 1 p.m._

"What's in your hand?" Ah, so Eames had finally caught up to him.

"Take a look at this." He dropped the note into the forger's outstretched hand.

"Well I guess we're going to take a little trip," Eames scathingly remarked.

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><p>Stepping out of the car, Arthur scanned their surroundings with a critical eye. Broken down warehouse, check. Sketchy dark alley, check. No signs of life, check. Whoever had brought them here had quite the theatrical taste. He glanced at Eames, who nodded, before they both started heading towards the lopsided door of the dilapidated building. He wondered if Ariadne had woken up yet. They had dropped her off at their warehouse, and Yusuf had stayed to keep an eye on her. One thing was for certain, and it was that Arthur was going to personally beat the hell out of whoever had hurt Ariadne.<p>

A sly voice soon broke through his thoughts, "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite point man."

"Nash." He spoke the name with cold authority.

"Hello, dear Arthur. And you must be Eames?" Nash turned to the forger.

Eames flashed his trademark smirk. "No, actually I'm the Queen of England."

Nash frowned. "Very funny Mr. Eames, but you can see that no one is laughing."

"Nash, what do you want?" Arthur inquired. "And what happened with Cobol Engineering? I thought you were dead."

"I was just getting to that." Nash's slimy voice echoed throughout the empty building. "After you and _Cobb_ so lovingly let Saito hand me over to Cobol I thought I was a goner. However, I struck a deal with them. You see, they're not very happy that you and Cobb failed to extract from Saito."

"We did not fail! We extracted every bit of information he had in there!"

"Blah, blah, cry me a river. The point is, both Cobol and I wanted you two. I want revenge on you two because although Cobol spared my life I didn't walk away unscathed." Nash pulled up his sleeves; Arthur couldn't even see Nash's skin, it was covered with so many bruises and gashes.

"This is all very sad and heartfelt, but what do you want from us?" Eames asked impatiently.

"Although I wanted revenge on my two buddies Cobol had other plans. They need you, Arthur, and your team to perform extraction on someone."

"I'm guessing I don't have a choice." He was raging inside, but the words came out smooth.

"You're right, you don't. That's why I set up the charming run-in with your endearing architect. To convince you that you don't have a choice, and Cobol will find and kill every last member of your team if you refuse."

"Fine, who do we need to extract from?" The words were forced.

"A dear old friend. Are you still acquainted with a Mr. Dominic Cobb?"

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><p><strong>Reviews are always appreciated!<strong>


	4. A Disconcerting Reality

Greetings everyone! Long time no see...or write. Haha please ignore that horrible joke. Firstly, I would like to apologize for not updating quicker. Today I completed the last of my exams so at least I have some sort of life now :). Secondly, I would like to thank all of you faithful readers who have either reviewed, story alerted, or favorited. You all brighten my day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception.

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><p><strong>Ariadne's P.O.V.<strong>

_Thud, thud, thud._ Ariadne woke up to a deep throbbing noise. _Thud, thud, thud._ "Ow," she moaned.

"Ariadne, are you alright?"

Gingerly turning her head she spotted dark eyes peering at her behind a mass of curly black hair. Yusuf.

"I'm fine. Yusuf, what's that sound?"

"What sound?" The chemist looked a bit worried.

"The pounding noise." She responded. "If you listen closely you can hear it." She paused and was greeted by the familiar thud.

"I don't hear anything." Yusuf was looking more and more concerned by the second. "Hang on, I'm sure I have something to ease the pain."

What pain? She scanned her brain. A whirlwind of images and sounds greeted her. Coffee shop- walking- street-explosion-Arthur. Thud, thud, thud. Ariadne realized that the thudding was coming from head. Reaching up, she probed softly at a chunky bandage obscuring the top part of her head. She had a million questions, but the one gnawing its way to the front of her mind came out first. "Where's Arthur?"

"Ah." Suddenly the chemist looked a bit uneasy. "After him and Eames dropped you off here at the warehouse they had to go meet….someone."

Ariadne knew that the 'someone' Yusuf was referring to was dangerous and no doubt behind the attack on her. "Yusuf, you're a horrible liar, where are they?" Despite her small size, she could be quite threatening when she wanted to.

"They—Creakk. The sound of the warehouse door opening made both the architect and the chemist look up.

_Thud, thud, thud_. This time she knew that the light pounding was coming from the footsteps of the men that just walked through the door. Ariadne looked at the first man for an unusually long amount of time. Slicked back dark hair _thud_ three-piece suit _thud _eyes crinkling ever so slightly and lips moving just a fraction of an inch to let her know that she was acknowledged _thud._ This time she wasn't sure if the thuds were coming from her head or her heart. She was forced to stop admiring Arthur when she heard a familiar voice and glanced at her good friend, and sometimes a source of great annoyance, Eames. The third man who walked through the door she did not recognize. Long and shaggy hair, darting eyes, and the slightly unkempt appearance of this third man made her instantly dislike him. And that was before she heard him speak.

"So this is your little architect?" The man spit out the last word.

"Yes this is Ariadne." Arthur glanced quickly at her then focused his attention back on the rude man. "Ariadne this is Nash."

The name sounded vaguely familiar to her but she didn't know how, and besides, her head was hurting too much for her to think coherently.

"Nash works for some very important and powerful people who need us to perform an extraction." Arthur was explaining to her. "This job-

"Ok Arthur you can catch _Ariadne _up later." Nash spit her name like she physically hurt him. "And just so that none of you get any funny ideas…." He reached behind him and before Ariadne could comprehend what was happening there was a gun pointing at her head.

"Nash!" Arthur intoned.

"Just messing with you, geez lighten up Arthur!" Nash joked with an ugly sneer across his face. "Good architects are hard to come by, however; chemists aren't in so much demand."

Click. Boom. Yell.

"Yusuf!" Ariadne cried as the chemist clutched his leg and howled.

"Eames get the first aid kit!" Arthur commanded.

Even between Yusuf's labored breathing and the sound of objects being thrown around as Eames searched for the first aid kit she could hear the slow measured steps of Nash as he walked away.

"Remember what I said Arthur. Two months. That's it."


	5. Haunted by the Past

Hello everyone! This chapter kind of explains Arthur's internal conflict and it's kind of a filler chapter since I don't really know where I'm going with this but I promise the next chapter will have more action!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception.

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><p><strong>Arthur's P.O.V.<strong>

Dominick Cobb. 37 years of age. 5' 11.5". Blonde hair and blue eyes. Date of birth: November 11, 1974.

Arthur skimmed through all this information quickly and with a lack of interest. He already knew most of Cobb's personal info but Nash had ordered him to double and then triple check everything. Since it had only been three days since Nash put a bullet in Yusuf's leg Arthur decided to obey. It was weird researching a close friend and he felt slightly stalkerish as he scanned through old and recent images of Cobb. There was Cobb at LAX, Cobb posing with his kids on Halloween, and even Cobb at his high school prom. Apparently, Dom had been quite popular when he was younger. Arthur glanced at the clock. It read 8:47 p.m. Distracted, he became mesmerized with the _tick tock tick tock_ of the clock. The soft blinking of the numbers blurred until….

"_Arthur?" A soft voice asked._

"_Natalie?" He responded hesitantly._

"_You remember me!" Her beautiful face broke out into a smile. Her smile. The one that could brighten anyone's day._

"_Of course I do. How could I not?" He answered. "I miss you every day."_

"_Arthur, I know how much you're hurting right now but you have to let me go. Don't blame yourself for what happened because it's not your fault."_

"_How can you say you know how I'm feeling?" He was becoming agitated. "Do you know what it's like having to live with the fact that if I had never let you go to your friend's in the first place none of this would've happened?_

"_Don't blame yourself. Leave what happened in the past." She vanished._

"_Nat!" He could feel himself waking. "Come back! I never got to tell you that-_

"Arthur?" He glanced up and saw Ariadne's concerned face scrutinizing him. "Are you okay?"

"Ariadne…hi." Shit what was that? Hi? He never said hi the word was so…unprofessional.

"I think you need to get some sleep." She responded. "You look really tired."

He was spared to answer when at that minute Eames walked into the warehouse.

"Ah why hello there lovelies! How is my favorite architect and point man? Oh Arthur you don't look too good. You should probably get some sleep. Oh that's right, you never sleep. It's always Arthur the amazing, Arthur the perfectionist, Arthur will not rest until everything is done."

Arthur glared at Eames. Truthfully, he didn't hear much since the forger's constant chatter was blending together in his head but he could guess by the tone of Eames's voice that he was being mocked.

"Eames I've had a long day so if you don't mind…" Arthur slightly raised his eyebrows and glanced at the door.

"No problemo!" Eames started to walk away when something caught his attention. "Hey look, it's Cobb!" He picked up a neat stack of papers that Arthur had printed out on his old friend and began reading. "Dominick Cobb was voted most attractive in high school. Dominick Cobb was born in Los Angeles, California. Dominick Cobb is deathly afraid of cruise ships. Geez Arthur, I understand you have to be thorough but I'm a bit creeped out!"

"Eames please leave." His voice was strained.

The forger must have heard the note of exasperation in Arthur's voice because he set the papers down and with a wink to Ariadne walked out the door.

"Arthur are you sure you're ok? You look a bit rattled." Ariadne repeated.

"Yes, I'm fine." He responded. Was he? He kept seeing Natalie's face; he kept replaying the panicked phone call he had received.

"Who is that?" She asked suddenly. "She's beautiful."

He turned his head and his eyes landed on the photograph that she was pointing too.

"That's Natalie and yes, she was beautiful."

"Oh." Her warm hazel/brown eyes widened slightly. He could detect something in her voice-jealousy? But he never thought Ariadne to be the jealous type. He then wondered if she had feelings for him as he had feelings for her.

"It's not what you think." He explained. "Natalie was my-

Ring ring ring ring. He looked apologetically at Ariadne as he picked up his phone to check the caller id.

"Who is it?" Ariadne asked. His face must have revealed something that had tipped her off.. He held up his phone for her to see herself; his voice seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

Ariadne's eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock. "Cobb!"

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><p><strong>Hope that wasn't too boring. Did you notice the reference to <em>Titanic? <em>Yes Cobb is deathly afraid of cruise ships since he had a friend named Jack die on one ;).**

** Leave a review if you wish~they are always appreciated!**


	6. A String of Events

Why hello there dear readers! First off, let me apologize. I know that you all are probably sick of my lame excuses but it seems as if my life has been put on fast-forward the last few weeks. While writing this chapter I split it in half because I didn't realize that it was becoming so lengthy. Stay tuned for the next chapter; there will be some drama!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception. :(

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><p><strong>Ariadne's P.O.V.<strong>

She stared, shocked, at Arthur's ringing cell phone. "Are you going to pick it up?" She hated how timid her voice sounded. Ever since Arthur had mentioned Natalie she felt her heart sink. The way he talked about her and not to mention the fact that she was drop dead gorgeous made Ariadne's heart flutter with despair. Comparing her and Natalie was like comparing a vibrant flower to a short, dull weed.

"Cobb." Arthur's greeting jolted her out of her self-misery.

"Yes, I'm doing well. How are you? How are the kids?...That's good." Ariadne stared intently at Arthur; she was trying to decipher both sides of the conversation. "Nash?" Ariadne's head jolted up at the sound of the slimy architect's name. She felt rooted to the ground as Arthur's deep, dark eyes flicked upwards to meet her softer hazel ones. "No, we haven't heard from or seen Nash at all." Arthur's voice was fluid but she could spot the pain in his eyes as he lied to one of his closest friends. "You want me to visit? But I'm in the middle of a job." Once again Ariadne found herself wishing that she possessed superhuman hearing in order to comprehend Cobb's incoherent mumbling. She was just about to ask Arthur if she could speak to Cobb when a very unwanted visitor strutted through the warehouse door.

"You will tell Cobb you'll be at his house by tomorrow." Nash commanded smoothly. His eyes had the quality of one who knows he is in complete control of the situation.

"Actually I will be able to make it. Yes, the job will be fine. I'm glad the kids are excited. Bye." Arthur pressed the _end call_ button as his eyes flashed murderously to Nash. "If you think you can force me into spying on my friends then you are out of your mind. It's hard enough to research him and plot how to break into his mind without personally visiting him!" Excluding the incident when Arthur had yelled at Cobb during the Fischer job Ariadne had never seen Arthur this uncollected before. As petty as it seemed she liked when Arthur lost control; it made him appear not as perfect and more like a human being with emotions.

"You don't have a choice. You should be grateful; this is the last time you will be able to speak with Cobb." Nash's voice seemed to vibrate within the interior of Ariadne's head. Did Cobb ever mention Cobol's affairs with you, Arthur?" Nash's tone became uncertain.

"Cobol's affairs?" Arthur stuttered. "No, why would he tell me about them?"

"Good." Ariadne could detect the faint but present note of relief in Nash's voice. "You better get going then if you're supposed to be at Cobb's tomorrow."

"Yeah." Arthur looked defeated. "Ariadne can I speak with you for a moment?"

She was taken aback. Glancing nervously at Nash she followed Arthur into one of the side rooms of the warehouse and at Arthur's request shut the door behind her. She blinked several times, willing her eyes to adjust to the dim light.

"Ariadne I assume that no one has explained the job to you yet?" His voice floated to her through the darkness.

"I-I haven't been told anything." She stuttered and realized that her lack of knowledge was very odd. How did she not realize that she was missing such a crucial piece of information?

"Well…it's complicated." Arthur's sigh reached her ears. "Cobol Engineering fears that Cobb has some valuable information regarding them; information that could shut them down if the authorities ever discovered it. Cobol wants us to go into Cobb's head to see if he has the info. Problem is that Cobb is an experienced extractor and he is bound to know what is going on. So Cobol is going to set up a mock job and force Cobb to cooperate, probably by threatening his children, and when we are in the middle of the "job" we are supposed to put Cobb under and break into his head. Since he will already be in a dream state he might not even realize what is going on."

"He might not?" Ariadne's voice sounded indignant, even to her ears. "We could be hurt, sent to limbo, or worse, Cobb will realize what is going on and tear us to pieces!"

"Yes, I know. That is why when I'm visiting him I'll try to find out if he does have any information. If he doesn't then we don't need to complete this job at all."

"And do you really think Cobol will let us walk away unscathed?" Her voice was soft.

"Probably not, but I can bargain the rest of the team for just me and Cobb. We're the ones they want." Arthur tried to reassure her. Her worried expression remained on her face, however; she could tell that he knew she wasn't assuaged.

"Be careful and hurry back." She threw her arms around him; a gesture that surprised not only him but her also. "I don't think I can stay sane with just Eames to keep me company."

His low chuckle rang in the small room. "Don't worry you'll have Yusuf here too, and I'll personally make sure that Nash behaves himself."

"You two done yet? I'm getting older by the second!" Nash's impatient tone reached their ears.

As Arthur opened the door and she stepped back in the brightly lit room she could see Eames making some obscure hand gestures. Squinting, she realized that he was making a heart and pointing between her and Arthur. Scowling, and hoping that her face wasn't turning beet red, she sat down on one of the chairs as Arthur muttered his good-byes to the rest of the team. She glanced up as his footsteps grew fainter, and was rewarded as his strong eyes met hers for a fraction of a second. Then the door swung shut with a click and silence dominated the room.

"Eames, Yusuf, would you two be so kind as to leave me with Ariadne for a few minutes?" Nash's voice was sarcastically sweet. "We haven't got to know one another yet." A silky smile appeared on his lips.

"Over my f****** dead body." Eames's voice was low and threatening.

Feeling that all hell was about to break loose if she didn't do something she burst out. "Eames it's okay. I'll be fine." Wait, what was she doing? She didn't know if she was going to be fine. From what she had observed Nash was a complete psycho! But, she told herself she hadn't taken an extensive two week self-defense class for nothing and she felt fairly confident as she calmly looked both Eames and Yusuf in the eyes and politely asked them to leave.

Click. The door swung shut behind them. Screech. Nash was dragging a chair and carrying a PASIV toward her. She inserted the needle into her wrist after it was tossed at her and tried to stem the flow of thoughts gushing throughout her mind.

"Let's see what you can do."

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><p><strong>Hopefully I will not have as much work this week so I can post the next chapter by this weekend. If you would be so kind to leave a review that would make my day :). <strong>


	7. Becoming Acquainted

Hey there everyone! Long time no see...or write :(. I've had a super busy summer so far including making the varsity volleyball team and traveling to Europe (I'm going to add in some specific details about Paris since I was recently there! Also, my family and I walked to the Pont de Bir-Hakeim Bridge in Paris which is the bridge that was filmed in Inception! :)) Anyways, I'm going to try and update more frequently but I must warn you all that school starts in a week so we'll see how that goes. Thanks so much to everyone who left a review, it really means the world to me!

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><p><strong>Chapter 7:<strong>

**Ariadne's P.O.V.**

The hustle and bustle of people around the Eiffel tower jostled Ariadne as she drank in the scene. Nash was leading her away from a mass of tourists speaking fluent Spanish to a less populated area. She was confused. Why did Nash want her to build here? Surely he wasn't going to make her create a structure to rival the Eiffel tower? But no they were walking away from the tower where the number of people around them decreased by the second.

"Come." Nash commanded. To Ariadne's surprise he was walking straight towards a construction site on the sidewalk leading to the monument. There was an open pothole which Nash stopped at. "In." He pointed at the unwelcoming hole in the ground. Ariadne glanced at it disapprovingly, but what choice did she have? There was no one around. She snuck one look at Nash who was looking slimy as ever and jumped. She landed on a mattress with an "Eek!" and then moved out of the way as Nash fell. For a split second she contemplated running for it before she realized there was nowhere to go. Even if she did manage to climb out of the pothole how would she wake herself up? By jumping of the Eiffel tower? Highly unlikely. So, sighing, she followed Nash down a dimly lit hallway and into a bright white room. The room was one that a person saw in movies. One steel desk and two uncomfortable looking chairs. One door which was the one they just walked through. It was spotless. Ariadne now knew that she was being questioned.

"You know if you wanted to question me you didn't have to go to all this trouble." She could hear the irritation in her voice.

"Absolutely," came Nash's reply, "But my dear Ariadne I don't want to just question you." There was his evil little smile. "I want to recruit you. Sit and I'll explain."

With increasing foreboding Ariadne pulled out one of the steel chairs which emitted an earsplitting screech and sat.

Sitting down in the chair opposite her, Nash began to talk. "You see Ariadne I'm in a bit of a…predicament. My superiors know that Cobb will realize something fishy is going on and will probably try to escape with his children and beloved team. However, this cannot happen. Cobb knows too much and if he gets away it won't be good for me."

"Well that's your problem then," Ariadne retorted. "I can't help you with that."

"Aahhh but my dear Ariadne you can." The corners of Nash's mouth twitched unpleasantly into a unctuous smile. "If I sense anything fishy going on beneath my nose you will report to me and explain exactly what is happening. You will not tell the others of this. And if you do not cooperate or you let something slip…that will not bode well for the rest of the team." Nash paused and winked, "especially Arthur."

For a split second Ariadne wondered why Nash singled Arthur out and then realized that it must be obvious that she was attracted to him. For an even shorter second she wondered if she came off as the typical starstuck girl to Arthur. But then she chased the thought away since she had more pressing matters to attend to. Ariadne felt rooted to the spot; she desperately tried to find loopholes in Nash's instructions but it was futile. She hated this. She hated feeling helpless, unable to do anything, being the weak link. She vowed to herself that if the time came to warn the others at her own risk she would do it in a heartbeat.

"I'm glad that we settled that." Nash's voice jerked her out of her thoughts. "But we have some business to take care of in the real world and we can't afford to wait for the time to run out so we're going to have to improvise." He pulled a gun from underneath his ragged coat and positioned it between her eyes. "I don't want to make this _too _painless. I hear the knee is the most painful place to be shot, what do you think?"

_Click._ Pain instantly radiated from her knee as her right leg went limp. _Click. _Left leg limp as well. _Click._ This time it was her stomach, she could feel her blood soaking through her clothes. She was aware that she was screaming but it sounded far away, distant, surreal. She just wanted it to be over. _Click._ Her right hand now a bloody mess. _Click. _Blood trickled from a neat hole in her left arm. _Click._ Blackness.


End file.
